GB journalist wins prestigious award

HAH Report

Islamabad

Gohar Abbas, a young journalist from Gilgit-Baltistan has won the prestigious ‘London Foreign Press Awards’. He is the Pakistan correspondent for Agence France Presse (AFP), a French news agency. Known as the “Oscars of Journalism”, the annual Foreign Press Association Media Awards ceremony is considered among the most prestigious ceremonies in the world.

Gohar received the award at the annual dinner gala held on November 26 in London.
Gohar has won the award for his feature “Heavan and Hell” https://correspondent.afp.com/heaven-and-hell under the category of travel and tourism story of the year. The story is about the barter trade between Chapursan valley in the northeast of Hunza District and the Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan.

The young journalist hailing from Ghulkin village in Gojal Tehsil of Hunza District, said he felt excited and humbled. “It’s a proud moment for me to be standing among giants of the profession,” he told The High Asia Herald.
“I would have never made it to the remote Wakhan corridor if I were not from Gilgit-Baltistan and that’s what every youth of the region should keep in mind that our harsh terrain and high mountains teach us to be tough and hardworking,” he added.
Under the category of TV News Story, Clive Myrie, Durren Conway’s “Mexico’s Drug Wars” (BBC News); Quentin Sommerville’s ‘Raqqa IS Escape’ (BBC News), and Charles Stratford, Solayman Hossein, Anuaral Islam’s “Rohingya Women and Children Trafficking” (Al Jazeera English) have been shortlisted.

Under Art and Culture category, Sophie Elmhirst for “From Game of Thrones to The Crown: the woman who turns actors into stars” (The Guardian Long Read), Suhaib Gasmelbari, Katharina von Schroeder for “Sudan’s Forgotten Films”, (Al Jazeera English) and Moni Mohsin for “Austenistan” (Economist 1843).